I am not an outsider, says Jaitley

BJP leader Arun Jaitley Sunday denied accusations that he was an “outsider” in Amritsar, where he is seeking to get elected to the Lok Sabha.

Responding to former chief minister Amarinder Singh, the Congress candidate from Amritsar, Jaitley accused him of also calling him (Jaitley) a “pseudo” Punjabi.

“Despite my ancestral roots in Punjab, Captain Sahib called me an ‘outsider’ and a ‘pseudo’ Punjabi. Will be kind enough to tell me which state in India does (Congress president) Sonia Gandhi belongs to?”

Amarinder Singh had also wanted to know if Jaitley, presently leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, would shift to Amritsar after winning the Lok Sabha election.

“Surely, I will have both an office and residential base in Amritsar, but will he (Amarinder Singh) ever be available to the people of Amritsar at all?” Jaitley asked in his blog.

“Past experience shows that he has been inaccessible not only to the people but also to his own party leaders including his ministers.

“His availability is only for a few hours since otherwise his palace is always inaccessible to the common man,” Jaitley said.